Trumpet and Flugelhorn

The trumpet is an exciting instrument that for several decades has shared the limelight with the saxophone as the most popular solo instrument in jazz, big band and ballad instrumentals. I first developed my interest in the trumpet listening to a symphony orchestra playing classical music. JS Bach used the trumpet to create drama and excitement - the horns of his day were 8 feet long, with a mouthpiece at one end and a bell on the other. This range of the natural trumpet is determined by the bore and length of the cylinder and the vibrations of the players lips. Natural notes are the tonic, 5th, 1st octave, 2nd 5th and 2nd octave. An expert player could manage to play other notes on a baroque trumpet with difficulty. The trumpet has evolved by modifications of its bore, different styles of coiling, and by adding features that produced a fully chromatic instrument. Anton Weidinger invented the valve trumpet, a fully chromatic instrument and Hadyn wrote the first trumpet concerto, performed by Weidinger in 1800.

The modern Bb trumpet with three valves and a range greater than 2 octaves is an evolved species that is in use world wide. Trumpets of the same design can be found with different root pitches; the C trumpets are the most common. The piccolo trumpet with 4 valves is a recent innovation, created to play the higher register pieces found for example, in Bach's composition - it is fully chromatic.

Peter Bach's Stradivarius Bb Trumpet

Peter Bach designed and manufactured trumpets in the US beginning in the 1930s. His Bb and C trumpets became the symphony standard through the 1950s. His designs continue to be made by Selmer. Among trumpeters there is much discussion about the right trumpet to use in different situations, the best models and the best manufacturers. When I was a young trumpeter, I heard that Bach trumpets were best, but I couldn't afford one. I did prefer Bach mouth pieces and found one that improved the quality of the sound I produced on a less expensive instrument.

Range and Fingering

The 3 valve Bb trumpet retains the set of open notes of natural trumpets ( noted as 0 fingering below).The ascending open sequence is a 2 octave range is C,G,C,E,G,C. The notes below the root C are not very useful. It is possible to play higher into the third octave, but beyond winning competitions with other players, the highest notes are often not musically meaningful and may annoy audiences.

Fingering Chart From Brass Resources Online

Flugelhorn

The flugelhorn is similar to Bb trumpets and cornets. It has three piston valves and responds to the same fingering. The tone is richer and more mellow. It most effective in a lower register than the trumpet. The flugelhorn's appeared in jazz and popular music, and appears occasionally in orchestral writing. Miles Davis, for example played the horn in 2 albums, Miles Ahead and Sketches of Spain.

See Scotty Barnhart .The World of Jazz Trumpet: A Comprehensive History and Practical Philosophy. Hal Leonard December 2005. ISBN-13: 978-0634095276

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